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FUN FACTS
China has only about 200 different family names and 90% come from only 100 different family names.
Trouble in China is symbolized in a character by 2 women living together under 1 roof
All Disney characters were banned for 40 years in China
In China there is no difference between the words "Rice" and "food”
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
In Chinese the words for crisis and opportunity are the same
China was the first country to use paper money.
The deadliest war in history, excluding WWII, was a civil war in China in the 1850’s in which rebels were led by a man who thought he was the brother of Jesus Christ
Respiratory disease is China's leading cause of death
The largest single-day decline in the Chinese stock market was a drop of 9.4 per cent on Feb. 18, 1997 after the death of Communist party elder Deng Xiaoping.
Facts About China
SIZE
China is the world's 4rth largest country in terms of land size (9,326,410 sq km) and the world's largest in terms of population. The current census used today puts China's population at 1,321,851,888. This should be seen as a conservative estimate though as many Chinese are unable to be censused and officials are reluctant to release high figures for internal political reasons.
BORDERS
China's long famed border with Russia was until 1921, it's biggest. In that year Mongolia gained independance and today at a distance of 4,677km it is China's longest border. Being a mainland Asian country though, China borders many countries. Border countries are; Nepal, N. Korea, Kazakstan, India, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, Laos, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
CLIMATE
China's climate is extremely diverse. The southern provinces such as Guangdong and Yunan are tropical with rainy seasons and teperatures that climb past +40C and 100% humidity. Tropical storm season sees 2 or 3 hurricanes in the area per year.
Toward Tibet, the temperature plummets as you reach the plateau. Snow capped mountains and a scarcity of air mark the area in this arid climate.
In the north toward Harbin and the Russian border the climate becomes sub-arctic taking on the chillier climate better known in Russia. Teperatures in this area often drop below -30C.
China is also home to the great Gobi Dessert in it's north west region. The Gobi like most desserts is scorching by day and freezing by night. A fantastic area for taking photos and pretending to be Marco Polo, but not much else.
PEOPLE
The majority of Chinese refer to themselves as the Han people. Refering back to the Han Dynasty as a point of common origin. The Han represent approximately 92% of the population. China officially recognises 55 ethnic minorities within thier borders. The largest of these groups are the Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean (Chaoxian) and the Li in Hainan.
LANGUAGE
The main language spoken in China is Mandarin or Putonghua (Standard Chinese). Mandarin is the language spoken on T.V. and written in newspapers. And aside from a few small regions it is the only language spoken in China. That being said, Hong Kong is long known for speaking Cantonese. Cantonese is spoken mainly in Hong Kong but also sporadically in eclaves in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Yunan. Speaking a little Cantonese with local merchants in these areas will get you a discount.
In the northen areas of China, nearing the N.Korean border are many former N.Koreans that have moved to China. Millions in fact. These people still speak Korean in the N.Korean dialect most of the time and due to thier numbers, they may actually be the biggest minortiy language speakers instead of Cantonese.
China is known for having many dialects, and while this is true, if you speak proper Mandarin, you'll usually be able to get by in most places. The rule is, the further away from the larger urban centres, the more difficult.